The next loss to be recorded is that of the _Folia_, Captain Francis Inch, which was sunk on Sunday, March 11th, 1917, at a quarter past seven in the morning, off the Irish coast, while on a voyage from New York to Bristol. The periscope of the attacking submarine was first sighted by the Third Officer some 500 feet away and nearly abeam. Immediately afterwards, he saw a torpedo approaching the ship, two of her boats being smashed in the explosion which followed, and the _Folia_ herself beginning rapidly to settle. Seven of the crew, including the Second Engineer, were killed by the explosion, but the rest of the officers and men were safely embarked in the four boats which were lowered. While the lifeboats were still in the neighbourhood, the submarine came to the surface, steamed round the ship and fired four shots into her, following this up with a second torpedo. The Captain then got his boats together and instructed the officers in charge to steer N.W. by compass, three of them making fast by painters so as not to get adrift from each other. About 11 a.m., the Captain, under the fog that had crept up, sighted breakers ahead, and told the other boats to follow in line behind him. Creeping along the edge of the breakers, they at last sighted smooth water at the base of some cliffs, and, pulling into shore, noticed the outline of a house high above them, with people standing in front of it. Shouting in unison, the crew succeeded in attracting attention and learned that the place was Ardmore, Youghal, Co. Cork, and from there they proceeded to Dungarvan, where they arrived at 8 o’clock in the evening, the inhabitants of both places treating the shipwrecked officers and crew with the greatest hospitality. [Illustration: THE “MAURETANIA” LEAVING SOUTHAMPTON WITH HOMEWARD-BOUND CANADIAN TROOPS] In all these cases the vessels attacked were either unarmed or so taken by surprise that no resistance was possible. But in the case of the _Lycia_, Captain T. A. Chesters, which was sunk on February 11th, 1917, a most plucky action against odds was fought. It was nearly half-past eight in the morning, and about 20 miles north-west of the South Bishop’s Light, that the submarine was sighted, and by the time Captain Chesters had picked her up on the starboard beam, his vessel had already been struck by a shot from her. Captain Chesters immediately altered the _Lycia’s_ course so as to place the submarine astern, and himself opened fire at about 3,000 yards. His gun, which was of Russian make and of a very light type, was one of the first supplied to merchant ships under the Admiralty scheme, when there was a great shortage of armaments owing to the needs of the Army and Navy, and it misfired several times; the Third Officer, Third Engineer, and Steersman had been already wounded by the fire of the submarine.